¡¡¡¡BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The average per-capita income of Chinese farmers hit 1,721 yuan during the first nine months of this year, rising 5.3 percent in real terms over the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in BeijingFriday.

¡¡¡¡The NBS attributes the increase mostly to higher wages paid to short-term rural workers in China's big cities.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, during the first nine months of 2002, the average per-capita income from the sales of farm produce reached 377 yuan,an increase of 2.9 percent.

¡¡¡¡Nevertheless, the growth was 3.5 percentage points lower than ayear ago due to poorer summer crops and falling prices for principal produce, the NBS said.

¡¡¡¡The average per-capita income from the sales of livestock was 298 yuan, a rise of 5.2 percent year-on-year.

¡¡¡¡According to the NBS, farmers' per-capita income from non-farming sectors totaled 282.1 yuan, up 3.5 percent.

¡¡¡¡It said that ongoing rural tax reforms during the first nine months of the year eased the economic burden of farmers in China and helped boost their income. Enditem